Tesco is now Lotuss.
Supermarket / hypermarket business is not an easy business. It needs to be located in an area which is central enough. It needs a lot of car parks because no one buys groceries and carries bags and bags and then take the MRT. It must have lots of choices, from the most affordable to the ones with the best ingredients and thus highest price. It must have lots of brands, especially the ones we could not find in other supermarkets too. It must have lots of promotions and well, never ending promotions. Here’s one from Tesco Malaysia. (current name)
Competition is super strong
This is why the scene is a continuously changing one. New competitors come up and try to take away business from current ones. Merger and Acquisitions happen all the time. This was the earlier article: Tesco is sold and leaving Asia. Fast forward to recently, this is what was written in Tesco Malaysia’s Facebook profile page:
“Lotuss Stores Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (Registration No. 200001018812 (521419-K)) (formerly known as Tesco Stores (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.) is a member of the Charoen Pokphand Group Co., Ltd (C.P. Group) since December 2020. The C.P. Group is a multinational conglomerate, operating across various industries ranging from agricultural, industrial to service sectors. C.P. Group currently has investments in 21 countries and economies.Having acquired Tesco Malaysia’s business in December 2020, Lotus’s Malaysia has now assumed the operations of all existing Tesco stores, employing over 8,600 employees across one head office, two distribution centres, and 62 stores throughout Peninsular Malaysia. It also has Malaysia’s most extensive online grocery home shopping network with over 100 delivery trucks and operations in Penang, Johor Bahru, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, and Ipoh. Lotus’s Malaysia expects to complete its rebranding exercise by end 2021.”
I have yet to visit any Lotuss Stores here in Malaysia eventhough it is my favourite place to buy lots of Thai products if I am in Thailand. Tesco meanwhile has been a supermarket which I have visited even before they arrived in Malaysia. I visited it even when during my university days in the UK. I think moving forward, we would see less of the UK products from Tesco but more of Thai products from Lotus. We will have to see how’s their arrangement as well as how popular were these items.
In any case, if UK products are more popular, it is still possible for Lotuss to source from other UK producers and not necessary be confined to just Tesco. By the way, my favourite supermarket in the UK was not Tesco. It’s this brand called Sainsbury’s. I once walked and shopped there at midnight too. Image below shows how they look like in that store I used to walk to in Bristol, UK. Nope, I did not hear of their plans to come to Malaysia.
Tesco or I mean Lotuss have also started to reassure everyone that all the Refunds or Exchanges will continue to be accepted. Clubcard points and rewards would continue. Vouchers and Coupons are as per validity dates. Tesco Online services are continuing as usual. Here’s their Facebook page if you have yet to see all the latest announcements from them yeah. Click here. We will only know how much changes will happen when they have fully changed. At the moment, what we see will still be all current Tesco. Happy shopping!
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